caption

American  

[kap-shuhn] / ˈkæp ʃən /

noun

1. a title or explanation for a picture or illustration, as in a magazine, newspaper, or book.

2. a heading or title, as of a chapter, article, or page.

3. Movies, Television, Digital Technology.

   1. a transcription or translation of dialogue and a written description of other audio elements, as sound effects, music, or atmospheric sounds, displayed as a graphic overlay on the lower part of the screen in a television program, film, video, or video game.

   2. subtitle.

   3. a title or annotation displayed as a graphic overlay on the screen in a television program, film, video, or video game, as to set the scene, name a location, or specify a time or date.

4. Law. the heading of a legal document stating the time, place, etc., of execution or performance.

---

verb (used with object)

1. to supply a caption or captions for.

   to caption a photograph.

caption British  

/ ˈkæpʃən /

noun

1. a title, brief explanation, or comment accompanying an illustration; legend

2. a heading, title, or headline of a chapter, article, etc

3. graphic material, usually containing lettering, used in television presentation

4. another name for subtitle

5. the formal heading of a legal document stating when, where, and on what authority it was taken or made

---

verb

1. to provide with a caption or captions

Other Word Forms

• captionless
  adjective
• miscaption
  verb (used with object)
• subcaption
  noun
• supercaption
  noun
• uncaptioned
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of caption

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English capcio(u)n “seizure,” from Latin captiōn- (stem of captiō ), equivalent to capt(us) “taken” ( see captive) + -iōn- -ion

Explanation

A caption is a brief description accompanying an illustration. You know the online photo of your baby cousin face-planting into a cake? The description underneath it that says "Hugh's First Birthday" — that's the caption. The Latin root of caption is capito, which means "seizing" or "holding." What do captions have to do with seizing? Nothing. Centuries ago, when authorities seized someone's property for legal reasons, they presented documents that began with the phrase "certificate of caption." Eventually people began using the word to refer to the beginning of any document. Then they began using it to mean any article or chapter heading. And from chapter headings it was a short hop to picture headings. A long journey for a word whose definition includes the description "brief"!

Example Sentences

Comparatively, ratings for the AI assisted captions were almost 30 percent closer to the winning captions in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest.

From Science Daily • Apr. 15, 2024

Caption Health, acquired by GE HealthCare earlier this year, will design the technology to run across a range of ultrasound devices and probes, including lower-cost handheld devices.

From Reuters • Sep. 18, 2023

Android’s Accessibility toolbox includes the Live Caption setting that automatically captions videos, podcasts, video calls and other audio media playing on your phone.

From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2022

Caption color and size can be customized and appear close to the bottom of the screen.

From The Verge • Jul. 30, 2022

Caption: a and b really synthetised to c.

From Naturalism And Religion by Otto, Rudolf

Related Words

• inscription
• subtitle